K12 Strong Workforce Program Grant

The K12 Strong Workforce Program Grant, initiated by California's legislature in 2018, aims to enhance career technical education (CTE) for K-12 local education agencies (LEAs). It fosters collaborations between K-12 schools and community colleges to create effective CTE pathways, ensuring students gain essential skills for successful transitions into higher education and the workforce. The initiative allocates $150 million annually to support innovative CTE programs, driving regional workforce development and addressing labor market demands.

In summer 2018, the California legislature introduced the K12 Strong Workforce Program (K12 SWP) as an ongoing statewide funding opportunity. It is designed to support K–12 local education agencies (LEAs) in creating, improving, and expanding career technical education (CTE) courses, course sequences, programs of study, and pathways for students transitioning from secondary education to postsecondary education to living-wage employment.
What is the K12 Strong Workforce Program (K12 SWP)?
The primary objectives of K12 SWP are the following:
To support essential collaboration across education systems between the K–12 sector and community colleges, or intersegmental partnerships, with involvement from industry businesses and organizations in strengthening CTE programs and pathways aligned with regional workforce needsTo support LEAs in developing and implementing high-quality, K–14 CTE course sequences, programs, and pathways that:Facilitate K–12 student exploration and selection of learning opportunities leading to career pathsBuild foundational career path skills and knowledge essential to subsequent success in college and early career explorationEnable a seamless and successful transition from secondary to postsecondary education within the same or related career pathsLead to completion of industry-valued certificates, degrees, or transfers to four-year university or collegePrepare students upon completion of education to enter into employment in occupations for which there is documented demand and which pay a livable wageContribute toward meeting the projected need for one million completers of CTE programs aligned with the state’s labor markets
Why are K12 LEAs partnering with Community Colleges?
The K12 SWP initiative intentionally supports cross-system partnerships between K–12 and community colleges, or intersegmental partnerships, to develop an education and workforce development student pipeline through strengthened K–14 CTE course sequences, programs, and pathways. K12 SWP emphasizes vertical curricular alignment in K–14 CTE programs of study between LEAs and community colleges. The collaboration between secondary and postsecondary education serves to intentionally bridge two education systems that, as partners, can build capacity to provide high-quality CTE programs with coherent programming; integrated curriculum and instruction informed by regional economic needs; and the associated, longitudinal student data. These partnerships, along with involvement from industry businesses and organizations, support students’ successful transition from secondary education to postsecondary education to living-wage employment.
How does the K12 SWP connect to the Strong Workforce Program at the Community College level?
At the postsecondary level, SWP funds support eight California community college regional consortia. Per state legislation, community college districts and LEAs within each regional community college consortium annually engage in a regional planning process, resulting in their regional consortium’s SWP plan. Informed, in part, by the region’s labor market information, this plan drives the allocation of SWP funds. In sum, SWP supports both regional efforts to strengthen the education and workforce development student pipeline, as well as the community colleges’ efforts to improve CTE programs to lead students through their postsecondary education to living-wage employment in industries that reflect the region’s economic needs.
Contrastingly, K12 SWP funds are exclusively for the state’s K–12 LEAs. The K12 SWP incentivizes LEAs to partner with one or more community colleges or community college districts that are already immersed in strong workforce efforts. This cross-systems partnership enables the development of coherent programming in K–14 CTE programs of studies and pathways designed to support students’ upward mobility in the region’s industry sectors. The partnership also enables an LEA to use the partnering community college’s SWP funds as match funds, a requirement of K12 SWP.
How do the State's K12 SWP  funds reach the K12 LEAs?
California has committed to budgeting $150 million in ongoing, annual funds as an education, economic, and workforce investment to build an education pipeline that prepares highly skilled individuals to fill employment gaps in regional industries across the state. The California Department of Education and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, in partnership, manage the K12 SWP initiative and administer funds to eight California community college regional consortia, each of which forms a K12 Selection Committee that, guided by the regional priorities in the SWP regional plans, awards K12 SWP funds to eligible and qualifying LEAs in its region through a competitive grant process.
How can K12SWP funds be used?
K12 SWP funds are an investment to support continuous improvement and capacity building. LEAs can choose to create new CTE courses, programs, or pathways; retool existing CTE programs with innovative practices; or expand current CTE courses, programs, and pathways that connect the K–12 sector with community colleges and local industry to improve student outcomes. K12 SWP funds are opportunity funds that help LEAs implement strategies that strengthen their CTE programming and support collaboration with local community colleges to extend education and career pathways for high school graduates. Strategies that improve college-going outcomes might include adapting K–12 CTE courses to meet “a–g” requirements, offering dual enrollment courses, or aligning a middle or high school CTE pathway to a community college’s existing career pathway. Other strategies that improve workforce outcomes might include establishing internships with local industries, utilizing industry expertise in secondary learning, or bringing industry staff to K–12 classrooms.
Funding
There are four funding levels of maximum allowable dollar amounts for each application based on total ADA of the grant-seeking LEAs.
Up to 140 ADA  - Up to $250,000 141 to 550 ADA -  Up to $500,000 551 to 10,000 ADA  - Up to $1,000,000Over 10,000 ADA -  Up to $2,000,000
Total ADA is calculated by taking all grant-seeking LEAs’ ADA (inclusive of both Lead and funded K–12 Partner Agencies) that are participating in a given application, meaning that the he LEAs’ total ADA will be used to determine the maximum allowable funding level.